Bye, bye, bye March 28, 2002 Posted: 4:09 PM EST (2109 GMT)
(Entertainment Weekly) -- She's not a girl, not yet a woman, but she is apparently a free agent.
In London this week to promote her film "Crossroads," Britney Spears all but spelled it out: She and Justin Timberlake have split. Their breakup had been rumored for weeks, but until now, it had been apparent only in ambiguous signals -- they no longer appeared in public together, she stopped wearing a diamond "friendship" ring he gave her last summer, they were spotted in nightclubs on opposite coasts dancing into the wee hours with others (he with a mystery brunette in Hollywood, she with model Marcus Schenkenberg in New York).
The couple themselves, however, had emphatically denied the breakup. Britney denied it in an MTV interview in early March, her mom dismissed the rumors on her daughter's Web site, and the couple's publicist said on March 20, "They love each other very much and have not broken up."
Five days later, however, at a London press conference, Britney said, "I would not say I was in an intense relationship with anyone at the moment." Two days later, on March 27, she told an interviewer on British TV's "Big Breakfast" show, "I'm single ... right now."
It's not clear what that "right now" means, but with 'N Sync on tour through April and Britney touring in May, it doesn't seem like they'd have time to see anyone else, much less each other, anytime soon.
Now that they've said "Bye Bye Bye," what should Britney and Justin do next?
Posted by Jen on Tuesday, April 2, 2002 @ 06:03 p.m.
Multiplatinum rapper Nelly is currently prepping for the June 25 release of his sophomore album, Nellyville. The set will feature appearances by *NSYNC singer Justin Timberlake, Trina, the St. Lunatics, and Jacob, as well as production by Basement Beats and the Neptunes.
Nelly is somewhat notorious for setting trends and creating his own slang. LAUNCH recently asked the rapper to explain his use of the term "dirty".
"That's my dirty, you know what I'm sayin'? That's who I do my dirt with," he said. "That's my little partner in crime. That's who I hang with, you know what I'm sayin'? And it went from that and just evolved to, man, I hear everybody saying it. Both coasts--I be on the East Coast, just, like, 'Yo,' down south, but it's a good thing, man, you know what I'm sayin'? That's something you pass on. I watched the 'whoadie' syndrome. It's new lingo. That's what hip-hop do. Hip-hop brings you the new hip--whatever is going on, we bring it to you raw."
-- Yves Erwin Salomon, New York
Posted by Jen on Tuesday, April 2, 2002 @ 06:01 p.m.
Yesterday we told you that a big Edgefest announcement was on the way and as promised, we can now tell you what's what. This morning the Edgefest people announced that the mega Canadian rock fest will set up shop at Molson Park in Barrie on Canada Day (July 1) for a three stage, 20-plus band extravaganza.
The line-up, as expected, features a pleasing mix of heavy-hitters and critically-acclaimed up-and-comers. In a nutshell? Whether you're a mud rock fan or an indie rock snob, the lure of the Edge will be strong.
Unsurprisingly "Canada's Biggest Band" (as the British press have been calling them), Nickelback, will be headlining the event. Additional star-power will come from big names like Silverchair, Cake, Finger Eleven, Goldfinger, Default, Sevendust and the increasingly popular Simple Plan. Also just added to the main stage is Jerry Cantrell, formerly of Alice In Chains.
For the secondary bands, Edgefest have made some interesting and creative choices. This year Danny Michel, The Dears, Full Nine, Grade, Headstrong, Melissa Auf Der Maur (with her Black Sabbath cover band Hands Of Doom ? wicked!), Mudmen, Not By Choice, Robin Black And The Intergalactic Rock Stars and The Weekend will all be playing. There will be a few more bands added before all is said and done, so there are bound to be a few surprises.
Keep in mind, this is the one-day only Edgefest Canada Day concert we're talking about, not a national Edgefest tour. There has been no announcement as to when, or even if, there will be a touring edition this year, but we'll let you know if anything is announced.
Tickets for the July 1 Edgefest go on sale this Saturday (April 6) at 10 a.m. through all Ticketmaster outlets. Early-bird tickets will sell for $32 and will then jump up to $45. No doubt, the show will likely sell-out quickly.
Posted by Jen on Tuesday, April 2, 2002 @ 05:59 p.m.
Pink will get the party started at Nickelodeon's 15th Annual Kids' Choice Awards on April 20 with an opening performance of her hit "Get the Party Started." Pink is also up for Favorite Song for the track and Favorite Female Singer (allstar, March 5).
Smash Mouth, who is up for two awards, and Usher, who's up for one, will also perform at the awards, which take place at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. Other music acts scheduled to appear include Lil' Bow Wow, Mandy Moore, Lil' Romeo, Nick Carter, and Destiny's Child's Beyonce Knowles.
Fans can still vote on the awards by calling an 800 number that appears during shows on Nickelodeon through this Friday (April 5).
-- Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna
Posted by Jen on Tuesday, April 2, 2002 @ 05:54 p.m.
Lance Bass' dream of flying to the International Space Station this fall may seem out of this world to some people, but not to a 22-year-old millionaire singer and movie producer who just happens to be a member of the planet's biggest pop group, 'N Sync.
While Bass underwent physical exams last weekend in Moscow for his trip to the stars, the group is taking a more down-to-earth approach on its current "Celebrity" tour, coming to The Palace Monday.
"Don't expect big explosions," Bass told a group of reporters last month, a few days before his space-travel plans were revealed. "It's just very intimate, this tour. It's really all about the music, and we're doing it 360 (seating all around the stage) this year in arenas, so it'll be fun."
"This tour is completely different (from past tours)," added group member Justin Timberlake. "They can expect the unexpected. We're gonna have a chance to sit down and talk to (the audience) a little more, and they'll definitely feel like they left with a piece of us."
Screaming girls have been trying to get a piece of the quintet - J.C. Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, Timberlake and Bass - ever since it emerged from the shadow of Hanson, the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys in 1998.
They've worked hard to become the biggest pop group on the planet with a nonstop parade of albums (23 million sold and counting) and hit singles, heavy rotation videos, top-grossing tours, TV appearances and media interviews.
But the boys in the band will take a prolonged break after the "Celebrity" tour ends April 28 in their hometown of Orlando, Fla. They'll be looking for fresh ideas in a variety of ways, with Bass' space tourism (rumored to cost $20 million) by far the most unusual. If he passes the required physical examinations, for which Radio Shack is ponying up some of the dough, he'll undergo six months of training before boarding a Russian Soyuz rocket for the 10-day flight of a lifetime, which launches Oct. 22 in Kazakhstan.
Timberlake might be a little less enthusiastic about such an out-of-this world venture. He remembers a 1999 Palace performance in which he got suspended in mid-air during a stunt "when we flew out on harnesses. We used to do 'Sailing,' and we flew out and I got stuck out over the crowd for like five minutes, and after the blood stopped going to my feet, they finally found a way to get me back to the stage," he recalled.
Expect fewer bells and whistles on this tour.
"It'll be very intimate, and there are lots of chances to do different things," Bass, who wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, explained. "And you never know who might join us onstage."
The focus is more on music, not flash, this time around. "All of us agreed to do this tour just because we wanted to do something different. We came off this huge stadium tour (which played Comerica Park last summer) and wanted to turn around and make it very intimate and do this all in a year," Bass explained. "This will be the last tour for a least a year, so we wanted to end it in a really cool way."
But they still sing and dance, and they're promising reworked versions of their earliest hits. The group launched last summer's "Pop Odyssey" tour before the "Celebrity" CD came out. For this tour, they've come up with new ways to surprise admiring legions.
"Last year it was cool because the kids knew when they were coming to the show that they were going to get something nobody else would, basically about 80 percent of the album, which was going to come out after the tour," Timberlake said. "This year, they know the songs, but we put a twist on almost everything. It makes it fun for them to hear the songs in a different way and to, you know, try to recognize those tunes."
The more restrained tone of the shows might be a reflection of the nation's post-Sept. 11 mood, but they don't to plan to talk about it in the show. They'd rather entertain.
"I think that's the point of going to see a concert or a movie or a Vegas show or anything. I think it's to go and get your mind off of what's happening to you in the real world and have a good time and feel like a kid," Timberlake said.
It should be a little easier on Fatone, who injured his leg prior to last summer's "Pop Odyssey" stadium tour. "It's doing fine now," Fatone said.
"It was pretty interesting when it happened. We had one more week of rehearsal. I sat on the side of the stage and watched everybody else dance. The pain was excruciating, but it slowly started going down. That was a good thing. Since I was constantly moving, it helped it heal. It's great now. There's a little scar on my calf, but it's fine."
He also likes the idea of playing arenas after two consecutive stadium tours. "We don't have to wait for night to come. It's going to be a controlled environment. It's not going to rain. There were a couple of shows we couldn't do (before), or we had to cut songs out because it was raining too hard," Fatone said.
The group will take a much-needed break after the tour, then its members will focus on personal projects, including movies (Bass and Fatone) and solo projects (Timberlake, who's also rumored to be either splitting with or planning to marry girlfriend Britney Spears).
Timberlake said their friendship has enabled them to come this far. "It's not just a group. We're friends. We started off like friends. We're a big family now," he said. "Even if we weren't 'N Sync ... we still call each other on the phone, go to movies, go to a club and hang out."
Of course, that'll change if Bass goes reeling into outer space this fall. When asked about the group's post-tour plans, he towed the company line, saying: "We're taking, I guess you could call it, a little hiatus for the rest of the year to focus on writing the next album, and, I guess, getting a little inspiration for the next album."
When asked later what they'd like to accomplish that they haven't so far, Bass had no trouble answering. "The sky's the limit," he said.
No kidding.
Posted by Jen on Tuesday, April 2, 2002 @ 05:47 p.m.
It may not qualify as recession-related, but the world's biggest boy band -- after scaling Enron-like heights of popularity, celebrity, sales and influence -- has made cutbacks, shrinking its massive stadium stage show so it can return to arenas on its current national tour.
"We couldn't sell out stadiums this time, and we wanted to make it a lot more intimate," 'N Sync's Chris Kirkpatrick said in a recent telephone interview with The Press from a tour stop in San Antonio, Texas.
"We just did a stadium tour last year, and to do back-to-back stadium tours would have been impossible. We wanted to make it more fan-friendly and more musical."
For parents who figure a $110 ticket price sounds less than fan-friendly, Kirkpatrick essentially guaranteed fans would get their money's worth: Some of those with the highest-priced tickets will sit in "pit" seats surrounded by the stage upon which 'N Sync performs.
"If parents are worked up about spending $110 for their kids, they're basically talking about being on stage with us," he said. "We haven't charged for what hasn't been worth it. The best thing about this show is that we're right in their lap, and they're going to appreciate it."
Appreciation, 'n deed. Having Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone or Lance Bass within sweat-splashing distance is worth far more than a Ben Franklin or two to the band's most devoted devotees.
"These are the best seats I've ever gotten," exclaimed longtime fan Dana
'N SYNC Arenas mean more emphasis on music, less on special effects
Bertolone, 21, of Sterling Heights, who drove all the way from the Detroit area and camped out overnight at Van Andel Arena to snag $110 tickets for the Grand Rapids show. "We're inside the stage!"
Of course, moving into smaller venues also means fewer special effects and less dependence on the dazzling light show that made last year's megatour -- which played two shows in Detroit's Comerica Park -- the biggest production in rock concert history.
"We have some pyro (fireworks) going on, but we cut out a lot of the lasers and gags that we do. We changed a lot of it because of what we wanted the show to be," Kirkpatrick said.
He said the band even dusts off its 1998 cover of "Sailing" for this tour plus a "blues" version of "I Want You Back," one of the group's first hits. "There's a lot more we do in a small space, which is fun, and there's a lot less running around."
Once the current tour wraps up at the end of April, all five group members will be doing a lot less running around for an extended period of time.
Kirkpatrick said after its arduous touring and recording schedule of the past couple of years, the band plans to take six to eight months off to relax, concentrate on "little things" and side projects and start writing new songs for the follow-up album to 2001's "Celebrity," which has sold more than 5 million copies but only about half as many as the band's monumental 2000 offering, "No Strings Attached."
Turning out OK
"We're really happy with the way it ended up. Of course, you'd like to sell a lot of records, but you can't complain if it doesn't sell as many as the album before that," Kirkpatrick said, conceding some critics couldn't wait to cite the sales drop as proof the boys are on their way out.
Kirkpatrick said he ignores that kind of talk.
"It doesn't matter. We just have to prove it with our actions, put out a quality album next year and tour again," he said. "With every album we do, there's always a different shift (in styles). We just take our music in the direction we feel we enjoy.
"If the business people had their way about it, they would milk us as a boy band the rest of our life until it didn't work anymore and then drop us. We're trying to mature with our sound. We write what we like and we like what's popular."
That also means continuing the group's trend of writing more of its own material.
The time taken off won't mean staying completely out of the spotlight. Each band member has outside interests, whether it's Bass' dream of being an astronaut by pursuing plans to take a Russian space flight to the International Space Station later this year or Kirkpatrick's recent decision to make his entry into the fashion industry.
Earlier this year, Kirkpatrick unveiled a new clothing line, "FuMan Skeeto," which features novelty T-shirts, loose velour tops and chenille patch jeans.
"It is a lot of work," he said of the venture, sparked by his interest in being able to find European-styled fashions in the United States.
"Rather than go out ... and sell my name to a manufacturer and have them pump out stuff, we've been through every stage of the process. It's going really well. We're getting picked up in some major stores."
Still all for one
But Kirkpatrick emphasized "the main focus will still be on the group," even if 'N Sync isn't actively touring or recording during the sabbatical -- effectively squelching speculation that Timberlake might pursue a solo career or that the band's popularity might die out if it takes an extended furlough.
(A publicist also described reports that the much-hyped relationship between Timberlake and singer Britney Spears might be on the rocks as a "stupid rumor" band members weren't interested in discussing.)
Kirkpatrick, for his part, considers himself a road warrior. At 30, the oldest 'N Syncer still relishes the globetrotting and the excitement of testing a new stage every night.
"I'm the oldest, but I love touring the most. I love living on the road," he said. "I love traveling city to city, I love being on the bus. It's just a great time for me, because as a group, it bring us all close. It's all about the road."
Posted by Jen on Tuesday, April 2, 2002 @ 05:40 p.m.
Kylie Minogue turned down a £1.2 million offer from Playboy magazine to pose nude, the Aussie pop rocket has revealed.
Kylie has however admitted that she may take a £1 million pay-out from the Sultan of Brunei, who wants her to sing at a private party for his son.
Minogue said she rejected the Playboy offer because "it's not for me" but admitted she may accept the one-off payment for what she believes will be a "nerve-wracking" performance.
Meanwhile, Kylie's American record label is hosting a competition to find the singer's sexiest photo.
The 'Tournament of Poses' runs for five weeks at Kylie's official US website and features 16 images.
Posted by Jen on Tuesday, April 2, 2002 @ 11:18 a.m.
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